Mann Gegan Mann: Man Agaisnt Man
by The Young and Free Dragon
Summary: After scaring Flaky out of her wits and then comforting her, Cuddles feels very close to the porcupine. But he still has Giggles to deal with and somehow, he feels detached from the world. In this new world, a little statue seems to follow him.
1. Prologue: All the Pretty Faces

**This contains different pairings from my normal writing style, but after reading some stories with these pairings, I found myself wanting to write some myself. I only hope I am as good as the other writers who have done this pairing. Please enjoy and review.**

MANN GEGEN MANN (MAN AGAINST MAN)

BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON

Sah ein Mädchen ein Röslein stehen  
Blühte dort in lichten Höhen  
Sprach sie ihren Liebsten an  
ob er es ihr steigen kann

(A girl saw a little rose  
It bloomed there in bright heights  
She asked her sweetheart  
if he could fetch it for her)

-_Rosenrot _by Rammstein

* * *

PROLOGUE: ALL THE PRETTY FACES

Die schönen Mädchen sind nicht schön  
Die warmen Hände sind so kalt  
Alle Uhren bleiben stehen  
Lachen ist nicht mehr gesund und bald

(The pretty girls are not pretty  
The warm hands are so cold  
All clocks have stopped  
It's no longer healthy to laugh, and soon)

-_Wo Bist Du _by Rammstein

Flaky twiddled her thumbs nervously as she sat on her couch. She checked the clock for the tenth time in the past few minutes. It was still a minute to midnight. She had to go to sleep just as the sun was setting so that the dark could not scare her. But when she woke up in the middle of the night… nothing protected her from her fears. Sure, she could remind herself that it was only her mind, but that never helped. Everything was real. Anything was possible. The only law of nature that made this true was that she thought everything was real and anything was possible. Simple, but a terrifying fact.

She suddenly got a knock at the door. At a minute to… no midnight… Her stomach tightened until cramps were rippling up her sides. She gripped her paws tightly together. Who could be here? A psycho killer? A psycho rapist? A psycho killer rapist? The last one seemed most possible. She felt tears rolling down her face. She didn't want to die. She really didn't. But that small reasonable voice in the back of her head said; _What if it's one of your friends? What if they need your help? Are you going to be a baby like always?_

This made her cry harder and she stood up. This was the only thing that drove her to stand and go and answer the door, but not before grabbing up a shovel that she doubted she could even defend herself with. Her shaky hand took the door knob, and she turned it and the door swung open. A loud screaming wail erupted from the figures before her, both had green, pimply faces with yellow blood shot eyes, and crooked, jagged teeth. Before she even had a moment to think, she was screaming loudly. Her eyes were bulging and going in and out of focus. She raised the shovel even as she heard the two figures laughing.

In her panic, she brought the shovel down on the figure to the left. The sharp metal edge sliced through the green face and struck something hard. The figure screamed as blood began streaming from the slice in its face. She let lose only one high pitched note and tore the shovel out.

"Hey! Hey stop it Flaky!" The other said. _It knew her name!_

She slapped its arm with the blunt side shovel. The thing yelped, grabbing its arm. The other was screaming its head off, grabbing its split open head. She let out another scream and brought the shovel back into the cavern. There was a loud squishing, cracking sound and the thing tore away from the shovel, blood spewing from its head as it ran around in five circles before collapsing, its purple tail flapping up in the air. She stood staring at the carnage, breathing heavily. Blood and chunks of brains and flesh were littered about the ground and the shovel's sharp edge.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the other screamed, tearing its face off and there was a yellow rabbit.

Flaky screamed and swung the shovel at the thing again. This strike missed and she had time to recognize the long yellow ears, the small red circles on the cheeks, and the bunny slippers.

"C-Cuddles?" Flaky asked, slowly and shakily.

"You killed Toothy!" Cuddles shouted, examining the body on the ground. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I didn't… I…" Flaky stammered as Cuddles yelled at her.

Tears were rolling from her eyes as he looked back up at her and she covered her face, wailing as she retreated back into her house. Cuddles' ears dropped. He had suddenly come back to grips with life, and now realized he had gone too far. He debated weather him trying to comfort her would do any good or just scare her even further.

* * *

An hour or so later, Cuddles found himself sitting in Flaky's bed, the porcupine wrapped around his waist, asleep. The slap she had given him with the shovel had only left a bruise, and she seemed alright now. He patted her shoulders, not sure what else to do. If she woke up, he was probably going to get his butt kicked. She had run into here and flopped down on the bed. He had caught up with her and was giving her a hug but she drug him down on the bed and now she had fallen asleep, saying he was a great friend and that she forgave him.

Though he felt better about himself than he had when he had pulled the mean prank, he was hard. He didn't want to be and felt dirty. He felt that it was a sin to be sexual aroused by Flaky, now of all times. But he had read that in times of danger and stress, the body reverted to this emotion of lust, as though it were a life affirming thing. Yes, he felt stressed but… she had forgiven him. His mind should be cleared. Right? He wasn't sure what he felt. Did he think he needed to suffer more? Seeing Flaky cry hurt like hell inside, something he had never experienced. Even when Giggles cried, he didn't feel pain inside. Yes it made him sad that she was hurting, but no pain came into him.

He shivered as he remembered Flaky's violent, terrified rage. How wide her eyes had gotten. How scared she was… how scared that made him. And he remembered looking at Toothy's body. Blood… so sickening in its glory. Coursing through his own veins, he felt the need to tear it out and spill every last drop. Some kind of vile, pumping, monster running through his veins… keeping him alive… alive for what?

* * *

Cuddles woke up suddenly, sweating. A dream. A dream… no… Too real, he felt Flaky's quills against his side. He raised his paw slowly, staring in stupified horror at the red liquid, spilling from his paw. How many times had this been spilled from him alone? Regeneration everyday, made the pain subside but the mess never went away. He gripped his forehead. His head was throbbing. He pulled himself out of the sweaty sheets… sweaty, no… not from sex but fear. He looked back at Flaky. She was smiling in her sleep. He stumbled into the bathroom, looking at himself. He felt panic rising for no reason.

A yellow rabbit stood staring back at him. _Who is this creature? It's me… So why don't I recognize myself? God, get a hold of yourself! Focus! You're just a little bothered by seeing Toothy die. It's always this way. _That seemed logical enough. He found the burden lifted from his body, and suddenly, he couldn't remember what the rabbit that had been standing there looked like. Only the one that was here now.

"That's me…" He whispered, reaching out and touching the glass.

He suddenly felt very happy inside, something he had not felt since the prank. He smiled at himself. He had panicked a minute ago for no reason. Toothy would be back tomorrow and they could play again… and Flaky was alright. She might even want to come play with him. Some stunt that would probably end up getting them both hurt… but they'd laugh. For some reason, it seemed they always did. As his paw retracted from the glass, he saw a red smear on the clean surface. The smear was covering his reflection's left eye. Somehow, he didn't feel so alone, staring at himself.

He wet his paw in the sink and wiped the red smear from existence. It might as well have never been there. He smiled again. He felt rather giddy inside, and was laughing at the silliness before. His imagination roamed at times. He looked at the place where the cut had been. Nothing but a small ravine in his fur. He smoothed it out, and then, there was no evidence it had ever been there. He went back into the bedroom, turning out the bathroom light as he marched over to Flaky. She was still smiling. He kissed her forehead and then turned.

"Goodnight Flaky." He murmured.

As the rabbit left the house, he suddenly realized he was no longer aroused. He smiled a little. _That's better. _He thought to himself. He felt somehow, two feet above the ground as he walked. He decided to see Flaky again tomorrow, and ask her about the small golden statue he remembered seeing on her bedside table.

* * *

**I dunno, please tell me what you think. I'm not sure if the plot is any good, so I'd like to hear your opinions. A little Easter egg among the text, see if you know what this line is referencing: "He had suddenly come back to grips with life, and now realized he had gone too far." **

**Hint: The real version of the phrase goes: "I've come to grips with life, and realize this is going to far." **

**Hint Two: it's from a song.**


	2. Chapter 1: Change of Heart

**The Easter egg revealed. The line; "I've come to grips with life and realize this is goin' to far." Is from the Avenged Sevenfold song "Afterlife". Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming!**

MANN GEGAN MANN: MAN AGAINST MAN

BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON

Sie will es und so ist es fein  
So war es und so wird es immer sein  
Sie will es und so ist es Brauch  
Was sie will bekommt sie auch

(She wants it and that's fine  
So it was and so it will always be  
She wants it and that's the custom  
Whatever she wants she gets)

-_Rosenrot _by Rammstein

* * *

CHAPTER ONE: CHANGE OF HEART

Heavy

You want it heavy?

Welcome to my world

Feel the weight of it grinding down

-_A Welcome Burden _by Disturbed

Cuddles stopped his skateboard beside Flaky's mailbox and got off. Tucking the board under his arm and taking another lick of his ice cream cone, he walked up the drive and rang the doorbell. He lent down on his skateboard as he prepared for the regular wait. He began imagining what Flaky was doing. The cute little look she got when she was nervously moving toward the door. But his thought was cut off as the door immediately opened without a pause. He looked in surprise at the porcupine who fully emerged in the doorway.

"Yes?" She asked, mildly.

Something seemed different about her voice. It was not nervous at all. And she looked so suave and beautiful. He returned the smile.

"I came to see if you'd like some company?" He said.

"Sure." She replied, stepping aside. "In fact, would you mind helping me with something?"

* * *

It had not yet registered with Cuddles, what had in fact gone on. Perhaps it was because of full "teenager mode" he looked at this as a moment of pride as he walked proudly down the street with his head and shoulders high. Bragging time. It was all natural, and understandable in the male nature. But not good. He approached Toothy, who was talking to Handy, Mime, and Flippy in front of Petunia's diner. He strode up to them and crossed his arms, leaning against a flood lamp and smiling at them. They all looked over at him and matched his grin. This was a normal routine for them.

"Looks like someone's been having some fun." Toothy observed.

"Correct." Cuddles said.

"Giggles is good I take it?" Handy said.

"Not Giggles." Cuddles said. This brought a confused look to the others' faces. "Flaky."  
They were all silent for a moment, and now none of them matched his look, but he didn't take notice of his error even though it had been thrown in his face.

"I hope you mean you two went to the playground or something." Toothy finally said.

"Jealous, huh?" Cuddles laughed.

"Well…"

"What happened?" Handy asked.

"Well it started out as she was just having me do some rearranging for her. At first, I thought she was taking advantage of me. But she's so different! She's not nervous at all! And then she had me move the loveseat in front of the window and that's where it happened! She came straight on to _me_!"

"S-so you guys had-…?" Flippy stuttered.

"No," Cuddles said, a little sadly. "But we made out like crazy. Flaky's tongue is like a snake or something-…"

"Are you crazy, Cuddles?" Toothy interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Cuddles asked in confusion.

"You made out with Flaky when you're going out with _Giggles_?"

Cuddles' eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He covered his mouth in horror and looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up.

"W-well…" He sputtered.

"You can't do that to your girlfriend!" Toothy shouted. "It's rule number one!"

"W-well it was Flaky who c-came on to me-…"

"That's not the point! You reacted in the wrong way and joined in!"

"You have to tell Giggles." Handy said.

"Are you crazy?" Cuddles cried. "She'll dump me for sure!"

"You might deserve it!" Handy pointed out.

"Now, now." Toothy said, calming his voice. "You made a mistake Cuddles. It happens. But what you need to do is either apologize to Giggles as soon as possible, or decide who you'd rather be with."

"But… but!" Flippy stammered but the others ignored him.

"Now go talk to her, _now_!" Toothy shouted.

Cuddles burst into the diner, running up to the counter, slipping in the wet floors in the process. As his face hit the hard linoleum, Petunia cried out in surprise. Cuddles fell on his back, dazed, and Petunia quickly hopped over the counter and helped him into one of the booths. After he regained his wits, he stared at Petunia in urgency.

"Are you okay, Cuddles?" The skunk cried.

"Not important!" He said, sniffing and wiping blood from his heart-shaped nose. "Where's Giggles?"

"She went over to Flaky's for a visit, but-…"

* * *

Cuddles rang the doorbell shakily as he waited for an answer. Petunia had followed him all the way here, asking about what was wrong and how she could help. The door was answered and there stood Flaky and Giggles.

"Oh, hey Cuddles." Flaky said, smiling suavely.

Cuddles' stomach turned, and Giggles grabbed his paw, giving it a tight squeeze and pulling him inside.

"C'mon in you two!" The chipmunk said with glee. "Look at Flaky's rearrangement!" She cried.

Cuddles stomach turned again, but felt as though it would burst when Giggles sat him down beside her and kissed his cheek. _Right choice. Right choice._

"How are you Petunia?" Flaky asked, sitting beside the skunk.

"Fine, though I don't know about Cuddles. He slipped and hurt himself and then came running over here as fast as he could."

"Are you alright?" Giggles cried, hugging Cuddles.

"Y-yeah." He replied slowly. _Right choice. Right choice._

"Good," Flaky said, clapping her hands. "Petunia, would you help me clean the bathroom. You're an expert and all."

"Sure." Petunia said with a small smile and the two trotted off together. _Right choice. Right choice._

Cuddles picked his moment and turned to Giggles who was still studying his face, checking for damage.

"Giggles…" He said, keeping his paws from throttling himself. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Giggles asked, turning his head to look at his neck.

He shook a little bit.

"Did that hurt?" She asked, concern burning into his dishonesty and he felt like he might vomit.

"N-no it's just…" He stammered. "We've been dating a few weeks right?"

"Seven." Giggles said with a cute smile.

"And we should always be honest with each other, right?"

"Of course." Giggles nodded, not fully catching on.

"And so… I'd… I'd like to see other people…" Cuddles slowly got it out. _Not what I meant… too late now._

The chipmunk stared at him for a moment, blinking twice, quickly as though she might miss something. Perhaps she thought he was joking or something but whatever the reason, Cuddles was ready for a deep impact.

"Well I guess… if it makes you happy…" She murmured, sadness at the end of her voice.

"Oh, thanks for understanding Giggles!" Cuddles cried with relief, hugging her.

He noticed as he did so, her eyes floated up to something and suddenly her pupils almost dilated for a moment. And then she pushed him away. He looked at her in confusion, and she only stood, determination and bitter ice in her eyes.

"No." She said simply.

"Huh?"

"You're not seeing other people."

"W-what?" Cuddles stammered, his stomach becoming an ocean in a storm. "You just-…"

"I said no." Giggles said, prodding his little heart shaped nose with her finger, which caused him to grab it in pain. "And you'll listen to me, you yellow bastard."

He stared at her in confusion and fear. She looked back at him for a moment then kissed his forehead without a hint of love in it that he could feel, and turned and walked away, perhaps to find the other two girls. But Cuddles was not concerned with this. He could only stare into the space where she had been at, and slowly raise his eyes to the shelf she had looked at only a minute ago. A little pair of solid gold eyes looked back at him, and seemed to shine knowingly.

* * *

**There you have it. Has anyone guessed what the golden statue is? Please review for my inner Nutty. For those of you who don't know him; he goes insane like Nutty does in the show when he gets reviews.**


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